Keller @ Large: Get Facts Straight In Trayvon Martin Murder First

Listen to Jon’s commentary:

It’s an unconscionable problem that lingers on – just ask any black person, and chances are they’ll have horror stories to tell.

And if it has people on edge to the point where they’re ready to arrest the neighborhood watch guy down in Florida who killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin and charge him with a hate crime before the facts of what happened have been established, that’s understandable.

But that doesn’t make it right.

Al Sharpton, who’s been leading the clamor to prematurely lable this a racial hate crime, says: “Any time you have a pattern of engagement based on someone’s having a particular group in mind, that qualifies for hate crime inquiry,” and I agree with Sharpton on that.

But his conclusion is still premature.

George Zimmerman’s family and friends, people of color among them, insist he’s not a racist.

The housing complex he was unofficially patrolling had been hit by burglaries involving black males "

Click here to read the whole article